Conveying system



Jan. 15, 1929.

I A. P. LEwls convenue ss'rail Filed Sept. 26, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 1Jan. l5, 1929. A

A. P. Lewis CONVEYING SYSTEM mea sept. 26, 1927 2 shuts-sheet 2 InventorAzhurl.

Patented Jan. 15, 1.9259.

Unirse* stars-.s

ARTHUR I. LEW'IS,

' 1,999,489 FATE-QN? QFFFFICE,.1V

oF AKRON, onmfAssiGNon To Tian MILLER RUBBER COMPANY, or AKRON, omo, Aconronnrion or entre. l

CONVEYING SYSTEM.

n Application led September 26, 192,7. Serial No. 222,127.

vide apparatus whereby a strip of fabric or*y like material may beeffectively conveyed between two distant stations, and during suchconveyance elevatedivertically in a v steady and uniform manner.

Another object is to insure vertical con-y voyance of the fabric withoutdanger of slipping.

A. further object is to convey the strip material vertically withoutproducing undue stress thereon.

With these and other objects in view which will appear hereinafter; theinvention y includes the novel features of construction and arrangementand combination of parts hereinafter described.l the invention beingdefined by the appended claims.

In'the accompanying drawings which illus# trate what lat presentconsiderthe preferred embodiment of the invention Figure 1 is a sideelevation of the elevating apparatus, the main endless conveyor beingbroken away.

Figure 2 is a section on the line 2,-'2 of Figure l looking inthedirection of the ar# rows. t

Figure 3 is a view of a diagrammatic nature showing` al completeconveying and elelvating system operating between two .remote stations7as for example', a calender andan upper factory floor.

Figure 4 is a transverse vertical section taken through the parallelruns the main conveyor above the calender Figures 5 and '6 are sectionaldetails.

v The invention contemplates the conveying, elevating and cooling ofrrubber fabric between the calendering operation and the bias cuttingmachines without the use of liners and is adapt-ed to convey'the treatedfabric from the calenderroom to the bias cutting department on an upperfloor. f The invention is particularly adapted for the handling ofrubberized or friction cord fabric.` Heretofore, `so 'far as I am aware,it has been.customary to wind vup the fabric in a roll with aninterposed liner as it issues sidcrable tension'.

be located.

from the calender at which time it is quite warm.. In passing throughthe calender the frictioning process subjects the cords to con- Wlhenwound on a roll with the interposed liner, it proceeds to cool olf,which tends to shrink the rubber, and the cords due to their elasticityytend to recover their initial'condition, bot-h of which are resisted bythe 'fact the fabric is'wound in a solid roll.y This results inacondition of fabric when unwound which is detrimental for its use fortire building purposes.v Attempts have 1reen made torun such fabric asit comes from a calender to an upper' iiocr by the use of an inclinedbelt. wider than the fabric. but suchscnemes havebeen foundiinpr'a'cticaible asthe beltsbecome dustyand the dust adheres to thefabric, and the fab' ric slips on the belt'and becomes wrinkled due toits weight and for these and other reasons such attempts have beenunsuccessful.

The present invention avoit he necessit-U of rewinding` and enables thefabric to be-conveyed continu'eusly from the atienden to an upper floorWhere'it arrives in condition to be directly fed to the bias cutter`though if desired can be wound in 'rolls witheut detriment dueto itshaving hadample opportunity to cool and shrink. Y

Referring by reference characters to the drawings. l representsthefendless conveyor proper which passes around terminal sprockets 2 and 21 'and intermediate guide sproc'zkets 2", 2?? 21 .to produce one runof the conveyor and other intermediate guide sprockets 3, 3, and 3b toprovide the other parallel run.

The sprockets i2 are located adjacentthe calender (shownconventionallyand so designated, Figure 3) while'the sprockets 2 are located altthepoint where it is' desired to dey liver thestock, such as an 4upper Hoorof'a factory building, also indicated conventionally in'said figure,where kthe bias'c'utters may 'lhe conveyor properl comprises a pair ofchains l connected together at space intervals Vby rigi'dlysecnredlnonrotating bars 4, and passing over sprockets Zand` 3 etc. As the savchains and sprockets at each side of the conveyor are duplicates of eachother, thesaine reference characters are used for each side.

Each chain comprises 'pairsof inside and outside links o andconnected bythe pi ntles 11 bearing rollers bbetween the links for engaging theteeth of the sprockets (sce Figure 5 The pintles are extended on theoutsides of the chains to form axles for the wheels l2 running on rails13 supported by brackets lil carried by the frame parts 15 forsupportingthc horizontal runs or flights of the conveyor.

The cross bars l are preferably Vmade of wrought iron pipe and providedwith end plugs la having axial recesses in which the reduced inner endsof the pintles ll are rigidly se .ired in any desired manner.

The sprockets 2 (and hence conveyor' l) are drivenfrom the calender inapproximate unison therewith but essentially at a slightly slower speed,by means such as the belt gearing indicated co nventially at lf3, Figurel.

When such a conveyor is supporting `the fabric-hori'lzontally as at Bthe fabric will be supported in loops or festoons as shown at the top ofFigure l. Thisallows the fabric to do any amount of shrinking due tocooling without producing tension on the fabric. The problem is toelevate. the fabric while it is cooling and'shrinking and allow thisshrinkage to take place without placing undue strain on the fabric, Thematerial to be conveyed is of a very sticky nature and will stick toalmost anything, but especially to itself. It can not be permitted tocome in contact -with itself or it would permanently stick together andspoil the fabric. l

At points where it is necessary or desirable to elevate the fabric, asfor example points C and C', theinvention provides for elevating itvertically by making use of a supplementary conveyor comprising apair ofidentical chains 5 adapted to be driven from the same mechanism as thechains l, and at the samespeed, as for example, by belt gearing 17. Bothsets of chains la and 5 are driven in unison with each other andslightly slower than the calender or other machine supplying the fabric,the difference amounting to the amount of fabric taken up bytheelevating conveyor and the shrinkage in cooling. This amount of fabricfurnishes the festoons formed bythe arms 7 of the elevator conveyor 5Yand provides the festoons formed when the fabric y.is conveyed awayhorizontally at the top. Chains 5 pass over and are driven by pairs ofsprockets 9 and l0, corresponding 'to sprockets 2 and 3, and are setopposite thereto. The chains 5 are each provided at intervalscorrespondingl with the spacing of the bars l on the chains l, with4angularly disposed projecting arms 7 rigidly secured thereto. The arms7 have angularly slotted apertures 8 which receive stub shaft ends ofrelatively light rollers G carried by chains 5. The slots inclinedownwardly on the side of the-chain which is traveling in an upwarddirectionxso that the rollers 6 are urged by gravity to the outerlowermost ends of the slots. rlhe upward runs of chains la and 5 arelocated in such close proximity to Localia@ each other that when therollers 6 are in this position they will extend past and between thebars 4. V rlhe fabric coming from the calender is passed between thechains lajand 5 21S/they pass upward around sprockets 2 and 9, and tl erollers 6 will engagewith the fabric and bei-ngv free to rotate andslide can roll into position forcing the fabric past the plane of thebars il. As the bars l cannot rotate the fabric fill be spread over themintoa Zig-zag course, Figure l, and held bythe rollers 6 sufficiently tokeep the fabric-from slippingthereon.` -lt intended that the rollers 6shall yieldably press the fabric between the ba 1 on the. conveyorproper, but not enough to put anyY strain on the fabric, shouldshrinkage occur.V

The invention is not limited to the exact structure herein described,but changes be made therein within the scope of the invention. Any meansof yield'ably supporting therollers 6 in outer position may be employed,the invention not beingconfined to the slot construction her-indescribed. v N or is the invention limited to the conveying of ,frictionor rubberizeo fabric, asfany sufficiently tenacious, stickmaterial, insheet-form', may be handled thereby.

The upper sprockets l() are*preferably yieldably supported as bycounter'weight means, indicatedatl', Figure 3. f

lclaim: j j y Y.

1. A conveyor apparatus forsheet material for conveying thesheet-vertically, comprising a pair of juxtaposed chain conveyors placedface to face, one ofsaid conveyors having horizontallydisposed spacedbars .upon which the sheet is adapted tobecarried, and the otherconveyor having projecting yarms extending into the spaces between saidbars and beyond the salme, androllers yieldably mounted at the outerendsof said arms and adapted to bear against the sheet to prevent slippageof the sheet in the conveyor apparatus.

2. .A `sheet elevator comprising anl endless conveyor proper forreceiving the sheet,'said conveyor proper having apertures disposed atintervals throughout its length, and a supplementary endless conveyormember disposed adjacent to said conveyor proper and having projectionsthereon adapted to engage `said sheet and to register withsaid aperturesand toextend therethrough while bearing against the sheet, to preventslipping movement of the sheet in the elevator.

3. A sheet elevator comprising an endless conveyor proper for receivinga sheet, said conveyor proper having a series of apertures therein, anda supplementary .endlessl conveyor member disposed adjacent to said'conveyor proper and having aseries of projections thereon Aadapted toengage said sheet and to register with said apertures and to extendtherethrough while bearing against the sheet to hold the sheet on saidconveyor proper, said projections being yieldably mounted onsaidsupplementary conveyor member so as to yiel'dably press againstt-lie sheet, j

il. A sheet elevator comprising anendless conveyor proper :for.receiving a sheet, Said conveyor proper having a series of aperturestherein through its length and having a vertical path of travel for aportion of its length, and a supplementary endless conveyor memberdisposed adjacent to said conveyor proper and having a vertical path oftravel in close juxtaposition to the vertical path ot' tiavel of theconveyor proper, and also having a series of yieldably mountedprojections thereon adapted to yieldably bear against said sheet and toextend through said apertures While bearing against the sheet to holdthe` sheet on said conveyor proper. f

5. A sheet elevator comprising a pair of juxtaposed endless chainconveyors placed 'tace to i'ace, one of said conveyors comprising a pairof spaced chains connected by horizontally disposed spaced non-rotatablebars upon which the sheet is adapted to be carried, and the otherconveyor comprising a pair of spaced chains each having a series oi'projecting arms, saidy a ms being inclined dor-:nwardly on the upwardtravel of the conveyor and having slots therein, said arms being adaptedtol extend into the spaces between said bars and beyond the same, andhorizontally disposed rollers movably mounted in the. slots in said armsand joining the opposite arms of the spaced chains ot said otherconveyor, said rollers being adapted by their own Weight to remain inthe lower ends of the slots and` to yieldably bear against the sheet toprevent slippage thereof in the elevator, and means for driving andcontrolling said chain conveyors. v

6. Means for conveying sheets from a continuously operating sheetproducing apparatus to a distant elevated point comprising a mainendless conveyor having one end located adjacent said sheet producingapparatus and havin@ vertical and horizontal runs, said conveyorcomprising pairs of spaced chains carrying cross bars, and asupplemental endless conveyor cooperating Wit-h the vertical run of saidmain conveyor and having yieldable presser elements arranged instaggered relation to said cross bars.

7. In conveying apparatus for sheet material a pair et contiguousconveyor elements having coacting sheet-engaging means dis-y posed instaggered relation, the sheet engaging means on one element intersectingthe path or the means on the other element Wherebythe sheet is held insinuous form during such conveyance.

8. In sheet conveying apparatus a pair of endless conveyor elementshaving juxtaposedy

